


living slow and easy

by Chiropter



Category: Kagerou Project
Genre: Fluff, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-18
Updated: 2014-06-18
Packaged: 2018-02-05 05:54:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1807831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chiropter/pseuds/Chiropter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haruka forgets to hang out the washing, and Ayano's not best pleased. Going on a picnic is sure to solve their differences. Obviously.</p>
            </blockquote>





	living slow and easy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [efreet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/efreet/gifts).
  * Inspired by [making up (for lost time)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1709822) by [efreet (orphan_account)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/efreet). 



> for a meme and the prompt 'bakery, family, basket'
> 
> based on / set in em's domestic yuukei quartet au, because it's one of my favourite things at the moment

The suggestion to go on picnic came as a surprise to all of them- most of all Shintaro,  who immediately regretted voicing it, because Haruka looked like Christmas just came early and Takane was staring at him as if he’d just proposed they adopt a large, venomous snake.

They’d been mid-argument, all four of them; something about Haruka leaving the laundry in the washing machine and Ayano having to redo it, a state of affairs that honestly they should all have been used to by now. Takane had, of course, escalated the matter tenfold by leaping in to back Ayano up, and Shintaro, feeling this was rather unfair, had taken pity on Haruka and weakly voiced a protest that had not gone down well with the girls. Takane he could handle, but he’d wisely shut his mouth when Ayano turned to glare at him as well, forced to simply stare off to the side and try to tune out their noisy bickering.

There was silence now, though, and all of them were staring at him.

"Well," said Ayano after a pause, "it’s as good a time as any."

He could almost feel Haruka’s thanks as they gathered some towels and started making sandwiches.

That was how, two hours later, Shintaro found himself sitting in the back of their rickety little van, with Takane’s head in his lap and a severe headache coming on.

"No- no, you should have turned right!”

"O-oh, um- well, it’s fine, we can just go back at the next roundabout-"

Ayano was driving, as was usually the case. Shintaro and Takane were therefore seated in the back- both of them being terrible backseat drivers, what with Takane’s fear of every wrong turn and Shintaro’s irritating habit of wincing whenever the van moved within ten feet of another vehicle. Haruka, on the other hand, generally slept through however many bumps the road had to offer him, and was currently snoring quietly into the window pane. This left Takane to snooze on and off in Shintaro’s lap, and Shintaro to complain at every opportunity.

"We can’t wait for that, Christ, can’t you just stop at a garage to make a turning like any sane person?"

"Shintaro, that’s not nice and you know it-"

"Oh, come on, don’t chew me out for something like that, I think pretty much everyone in this godawful van has a right to-"

"If you keep this up I’ll wake Takane up to punch you, I wouldn’t push it!"

Ayano’s voice spiked upwards and the van swerved slightly, causing Takane to grunt and jerk upwards. She looked around blearily, gave Shintaro a disgusted look, and settled back in his lap again.

"Alright," he said after a pause, voice lowered and slightly panicked, "alright, we can wait for a roundabout, but what if we run out of gas? Are you going to pay for it? Because I don’t have any money!"

"Stop worrying, it doesn’t matter if we go just a little further. I’m sure the picnic spots can only get better the further we go…"

After a few more words of gentle soothing, Shintaro was forced to admit that she might have a point. They drove on in silence a while, broken by occasional mumbles from Takane and Haruka. The only thing that seemed to be changing, however, was the colour of the sky.

"…Shintaro," said Ayano after a while, "did anyone check the weather forecast before we left?"

Shintaro didn’t reply, frowning out the window at the gathering clouds. Haruka gave a particularly violent start and wrapped his arms tighter round the picnic basket in his lap.

Ten minutes later, it started to rain.

Shintaro’s groan, and possibly the thunk of his head on the window, were apparently loud enough to wake Takane again, because her elbows were suddenly digging into his thighs rather painfully as she struggled to sit up. He yelped, and she rolled her eyes, yawning.

"What’s happening?"

"Look out the window," Shintaro told her. The noise Takane made when she did was almost a perfect mimic of the zombie noise in her current favourite video game.

"You’re fucking kidding me."

"Well, yeah, you got us, literally making it rain just to get a rise out of you-“

Ayano, sensing an argument, butted in hastily:

"Look, okay, we didn’t even plan this to start with, so why don’t we all just go into town? We can stop at a cafe, it’ll save us the washing up later!”

Takane and Shintaro looked at each other. There was, it had to be said, a good amount of logic in this solution.

"Agreed? Good! It’ll be really fun, I think there’s a new tea shop that opened up… can one of you pass me the map, please? And someone wake Haruka to tell him…"

Almost immediately, both of them dived for the map- but Takane got there first, kicking it just out of Shintaro’s reach to grab it herself. Shintaro glared at her as he turned his attention to the seat in front of him.

"Uh, Haruka," he began tentatively, reaching out a hand to grasp the other boy’s, "you need to, uh, wake up now."

In response, he received a snore.

“Haruka," he said again, with slightly increased urgency (and God, if that was Takane laughing at him and not just his imagination, he was going to end her), “it’s time to wake up.”

Haruka moved in his sleep, moaning slightly. It’d be almost cute if everyone present wasn’t aware what a terror he could be when woken from a nap. Shintaro shook his hand gently, giving it a light squeeze in the hopes of a less sudden awakening.

He and Takane watched in the front mirror as Haruka stirred again, blinked a few times.

"Shintaro…?"

His voice was still muffled with sleep, and beside him, Ayano’s eyebrows raised visibly in surprise. Haruka looked around and gave a wide yawn.

"Ah… hello." He yawned again. "Are we going on a trip?"

Konoha's voice was lighter and quieter than Haruka's, and recognisable immediately. Shintaro's shoulders dropped, and Takane let out a short laugh.

"We’re going into town," Shintaro told him, "at least, I think?" He looked to Takane, who looked to Ayano, who nodded.

"Mm, I had a quick look at the map and we haven’t gone too far. It’s just a matter of deciding where to go." She paused a moment to turn off the motorway, finally changing direction and heading back towards the town. "Why don’t we let Konoha decide?"

Konoha, who had been staring at the rain with intense fascination, looked up again at the mention of his name.

"Me…"

Ayano smiled at him- an action that made both Shintaro and Takane wince as she diverted her attention from the road. She ignored them masterfully.

"That’s right! You haven’t been around much lately. Is there anything you’d like to eat?"

"I’ve been… sleeping a lot," Konoha informed her with a little nod. He looked thoughtful. "I’d like some cake, I think."

Shintaro snorted.

"Make sure you don’t leave crumbs. I think Haruka might cry if he knew what he was missing."

Takane smiled, but Ayano shook her head.

"Honestly, you’re worse than usual today. Just ignore him, Konoha."

Konoha looked a little confused, but nodded again, clutching the picnic basket as if it were some sort of teddy bear. He really did look like a child- which was odd, since Haruka’s face was now that of an adult man. It was almost like his eyes weren’t quite bright enough to convey all of Konoha’s emotion anymore.

( _How old is he, anyway?_ Shintaro had asked Haruka one night, a storybook he’d read to Konoha earlier discarded on the floor with their clothes. Haruka had only shrugged, grinned, and hugged his pillow.

 _It’s almost like having a son,_ Takane had laughed, returning from the bathroom and flopping over both of them. She’d gone a weird colour as she said it but it had made Haruka smile, and even Shintaro had to admit the idea was somewhat… nice. Weirdly comforting. After all, they were a family, weren’t they?

He wasn’t sure if Ayano had ever been told about that conversation. Sometimes, by the way she glowed around him, he suspected she may not need to be. He’d noticed her in the park sometimes, watching children play with an odd look in her eyes. It was longing, yes- but also fear. Maybe it was a blessing that Konoha stuck around.)

With everyone awake, it wasn’t long until they found their way back- Takane’s instructions helped them round a few tricky bends, and Konoha’s presence made sure both she and Shintaro kept their voices down. Within half an hour they were back where they wanted to be, and after a further ten minutes looking for a parking space, they managed to find the cafe Ayano had mentioned.

 It was definitely cute- more of a shop than a restaurant, with chocolate-coloured furnishings and a little old-fashioned banner out front. There was only one waitress on shift, but she greeted them the moment they stepped inside.

"We must look like the Scooby Doo gang,” Shintaro muttered to Takane, and when she looked unimpressed, he repeated his insight to Konoha. Well, the blank stare he received was better than a glare, at least.

The cafe was mostly empty, and even though there were only five tables they were able to sit down immediately. Ayano actually giggled when she saw the tablecloth.

"Look, it has tiny birds at the corners… that’s really cute, but what does it have to do with tea?"

"I’m not keen on this colour scheme, myself" said Takane, picking at the cloth with one hand. “It’s so over the top! Pink and brown? We get it, this place is supposed to be all cute…”

"Today’s  special is on the board," said the waitress as she handed them their menus. "Home -made apple tart, with cream or chocolate ice cream and a topping of fresh raspberries.”

Konoha was staring at her with awe all over his face, as if he’d never heard of something so wonderful, and Shintaro was struggling incredibly hard not to laugh at him. Instead, he coughed and looked down at the menu while the waitress bustled away.

It was… well, nice. The chitchat and the sound of the rain- the gentle kick Takane gave him under the table when he snorted into his cola, Konoha’s look of sheer delight when he saw the amount of cream on his (second) banana split. The way Ayano kept fiddling with the tablecloth throughout the meal, as if the birds just couldn’t get boring. Even the way the waitress seemed so confused by them; her odd glances at Konoha, her squint as Takane made an offhand comment about how Shintaro was always so gross when he ate, how Ayano somehow always looked pretty and he should really take a leaf from her book. When Konoha asked for a third ice cream (very seriously reasoning that maybe if he ate more, Haruka would still be able to taste it later) they all fell about laughing at once- and when Haruka actually came back, they were still laughing as they swooped him into a hug.

The picnic basket lay forgotten, and, just beyond the windows of that little cafe and that old red van, the rain was starting to clear.

**Author's Note:**

> idk how to explain the konoha / haruka thing, i wrote it like dissociative identity disorder but since i think this is post-series it's kind of not? i'm not sure how whatever's happened with them has happened, but it has, and together they can eat their way through two shelves of the fridge in one day and get only a minor stomachache


End file.
